Nearly eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia officials and public-health experts are eying the upcoming winter season with caution amid a recent uptick in positive coronavirus cases and the dual impacts of the flu.Cases of COVID-19, which had killed 8,156 people by Friday and sickened hundreds of thousands more in Georgia, have declined sharply since a peak in late July when the state averaged more than 3,500 cases per day, according to state Department of Public Health (DPH) data.But cases have crept back up in recent weeks from a daily average of just under 1,200 cases on...… Nearly eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia officials and public-health experts are eying the upcoming winter season with caution amid a recent uptick in positive coronavirus cases and the dual impacts of the flu.Cases of COVID-19, which had killed 8,156 people by Friday and sickened hundreds of thousands more in Georgia, have declined sharply since a peak in late July when the state averaged more than 3,500 cases per day, according to state Department of Public Health (DPH) data.But cases have crept back up in recent weeks from a daily average of just under 1,200 cases on...WW…

Beau Evans and Dave WilliamsCapitol Beat News ServiceView CommentsLegislation to permit sports betting in Georgia made a comeback Friday in the state Senate as lawmakers scramble to drum up new revenues to plug the state’s coronavirus-ravaged budget.A measure by Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, that would legalize sports betting and hand management responsibilities to the Georgia Lottery Corporation was tacked onto a separate bill dealing with traffic tickets.It would allow online betting platforms like FanDuel and Draft Kings to operate legally, so long as they secure licenses from the lottery....…Beau Evans and Dave WilliamsCapitol Beat News ServiceView CommentsLegislation to permit sports betting in Georgia made a comeback Friday in the state Senate as lawmakers scramble to drum up new revenues to plug the state’s coronavirus-ravaged budget.A measure by Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, that would legalize sports betting and hand management responsibilities to the Georgia Lottery Corporation was tacked onto a separate bill dealing with traffic tickets.It would allow online betting platforms like FanDuel and Draft Kings to operate legally, so long as they secure licenses from the lottery....WW…